Box Score

ST. AUGUSTINE – Marcus Heath sank a 12-foot jumper and converted the following free throw after being fouled with 1:35 left to go and send UNC Pembroke to a 66-64 win over Flagler College in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.

UNC Pembroke won its fifth game in last six outings to improve to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the Peach Belt. Flagler suffered its fourth consecutive loss and dropped to 6-5 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

K.J. Cooper led the Braves with a game-high 17 points coming off the bench. He also tallied six assists. Ben Jacobs and Heath each scored 16 points. Nathan Priest grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

The Braves made 10-of-its-13 free throws and shot 50% (12-24) from the field in the second half.

Ante Gospic (Zadar, Croatia, Polk State College) led the Saints with 14 points and seven rebounds. Chad July (Fort White, Fla., Bridgton (Maine) Academy) added 11 points and five rebounds while Jarrod Branco (Hudson, Fla., Hudson HS) came off the bench to score 11 points. He made the 3-pointers and tallied three steals. Jarrod Branco (Hudson, Fla., Hudson HS) chipped in with 10 points. Elijah Hayes (Marietta, Ga., Sprayberry HS) added seven points and six assists.

Flagler shot 59.1% (13-21) from the line for the game.

The Saints had the opportunity to tie the game with 34 seconds left, but Clark missed a pair of free throws. After a 30-second timeout by the Braves, Cooper threw away the in-bounds pass and the Saints quickly called timeout with 30 seconds left. July was whistled for a player-control foul with four seconds left. Heath was fouled and missed both free throws, but Flagler did not have enough time (three seconds) to get the ball into position for a good shot before the buzzer.

The game featured eight ties and 12 lead changes.

Gospic made a layup with 2:54 left in the game to give Flagler a 64-63 lead.

Flagler will break for the holidays and return to action on Jan. 4 at Lander University.

UNC Pembroke vs Flagler
12/17/11 3:40 p.m. at St. Augustine, Fla. (Flagler Gym)
At St. Augustine, Fla. (Flagler Gym)

UNC PEMBROKE 66, FLAGLER 64

UNC PEMBROKE (7-4, 2-0 PBC)
K.J. Cooper 6-9 3-3 17; Marcus Heath 6-11 3-5 16; Ben Jacobs 7-10 2-2 16;
George Blakeney 3-5 2-3 8; Shahmel Brackett 3-11 0-0 7; Nathan Priest 1-3
0-0 2; Mike Robinson 0-3 0-0 0; Griffin Pittman 0-4 0-0 0; Miguel Starkey
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 10-13 66.

FLAGLER (6-5, 0-4 PBC)
Ante Gospic 4-7 5-6 14; Chad July 3-7 5-7 11; Jarrod Branco 4-9 0-3 11; Matt
Clark 4-8 0-2 10; Elijah Hayes 3-8 0-0 7; Addison Smith 2-10 3-4 7; Desmond
Gibson 2-2 0-0 4; Justin Stokes 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Warner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
22-51 13-22 64.

UNC Pembroke..................   34   32  -   66
Flagler.......................   30   34  -   64

3-point goals--UNC Pembroke 4-14 (K.J. Cooper 2-4; Shahmel Brackett 1-6;
Marcus Heath 1-3; Griffin Pittman 0-1), Flagler 7-14 (Jarrod Branco 3-6;
Matt Clark 2-4; Ante Gospic 1-1; Elijah Hayes 1-3). Fouled out--UNC
Pembroke-None, Flagler-None. Rebounds--UNC Pembroke 36 (Nathan Priest 8),
Flagler 31 (Addison Smith 7; Ante Gospic 7). Assists--UNC Pembroke 19 (K.J.
Cooper 6), Flagler 13 (Elijah Hayes 6). Total fouls--UNC Pembroke 16,
Flagler 15. Technical fouls--UNC Pembroke-None, Flagler-None. A-151